


Ice Cream and Murder Situations

by WinterWhinery



Series: Occupational Hazards [1]
Category: Hunter Hayes (Musician)
Genre: AU, Covert Operation, Fights, Gen, Hostage Situations, Ice Cream, Kidnapping, Ransom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11945784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterWhinery/pseuds/WinterWhinery
Summary: "Why'd you do that?""You mean save your life?""Yea, that.""Because you're an idiot, and I didn't want to be responsible for letting them kill you without you knowing that."





	Ice Cream and Murder Situations

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is the first in a series of independent, action-based AU fics. I'm still trying to figure out this website but if ya have a request, message me or comment or however you can get in touch on here and I'll try and make it happen!

I just wanted some ice cream. Don't get me wrong: Covert ops has its perks. You travel, make your own hours, all expenses paid. But when the bad guys show up just as you're about to indulge in a brownie fudge sundae, you tend to curse it a little. My job includes knowing what everyone in the room is doing at every moment, so when two men carrying pistols walk into a crowded store, I know about it. What they wanted, I didn't know.   
As I waited in line to place my order, I observed as they walked over to a man who, by the looks of it, recognized them and wanted to be as far away from them as possible. Not that I could blame him. Men like that tend to make anyone uneasy. Both were tall and well-built. Their faces were nondescript, perfect for getting away without leaving an impression. The only real difference between the two was one had long hair pulled into a low ponytail, while the other sported a buzz cut.   
I continued to watch as they talked to the sitting man. He looked afraid as they sat down next to him. He shifted in his seat, and I noticed a bag sitting in his lap. I almost cursed when I realized what it was: a ransom pick-up. The man with the bag was ignorant to what was about to the place. He would give the men the money after he agreed to walk into some secluded area to exchange whatever was ransomed. The thugs would most likely injure the poor, clueless guy and walk away with the money, leaving him laying there without whatever it was he wanted, kicking himself for not having seen it coming. I decided to intervene. Fighting for the little guy is for suckers, but I haven't mastered the indifference thing yet.   
I left the line and headed towards the corner where they were seated. I sat at the table next to the group, earning annoyed glances from the thug with the ponytail.   
"Where is she?" I heard the man with the bag say.   
"We'll return her, just as soon as we see the money."  
I almost winced as the he all but shoved the bag into their faces. He was either desperate or stupid. Probably both.   
They took the bag and motioned for him to follow. I regarded the man who paid the ransom. He wasn't taller than 5'7" and reasonably thin besides his shoulders and arms. He was definitely not a fighter, and wouldn't stand a chance next to the two bigger men.   
I didn't have to tail them far before they disappeared into a car and sped off. This time I did curse. These weren't small-time criminals. They knew what they were doing. The poor guy would most likely get a bullet in the head before being dropped off in some dumpster. I couldn't let that happen, so I followed in my own vehicle.   
An old, cheap truck can do a lot of damage, and they can take a beating. A modern SUV? They're a lot easier to total. If you hit them just right, they'll lurch into oncoming traffic and get a nice, big dent from a vehicle in the other lane. If you're lucky, it'll only stun the passengers. I only hoped I didn't get the guy I was trying to help seriously injured. I stepped out of my truck and hurried to open the passenger door. He was relatively fine. A few bruises and scrapes, but nothing life threatening. The man next to him had fared better. He had no visible injuries, but he was rubbing his head. The driver was out cold. As soon as I opened the door, he locked his eyes on me. I grabbed the bag from the floor just as he lunged. I all but pulled the man they had taken from the vehicle.   
"Take this and get in the truck!" I yelled as I pushed the bag into his arms and shoved him towards the truck. He didn't speak a word, but thankfully headed towards it.   
The ponytailed thug climbed out of the SUV and rushed me. I slipped a knife out of its holster and charged. I didn't want to stab the man, but made as if I were going to. He threw up his forearms to block me, but I slipped to the side, pushed the man's elbow away, and grabbed a handful of his ponytail. Pushing his head forward, I broke his nose with my hand, effectively distracting him as I slipped a tracker into his jacket. I jabbed an elbow into the side of his skull, bringing him down to his knees. I knew he would be feeling dizzy, so I took the chance to run. With a sigh of relief, I saw the man had made it to the truck. It was still running, so I put it in gear and drove. Luckily, traffic beyond the SUV was clear, so I made my getaway quickly.   
I drove silently for a half hour, looking for an empty parking lot. I finally found one and parked. I turned to my passenger.   
"Who are you?" The man asked as I looked at him expectantly. He was worried, understandably. If a random woman whisks you away from your kidnappers, you would be, too.  
I sighed. "I'm a friend. Don't worry. What's your name?" I didn't want to think of him as 'the man with the bag'.  
"Hunter."  
"Well, Hunter, you're in deep shit."  
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know."  
"Who or what did they take?"   
"My mom."  
I nodded. "Okay."   
He had more questions. "Why'd you do that?"  
"You mean save your life?"   
"Yea, that."  
"Because you're an idiot, and I didn't want to be responsible for letting them kill you without you knowing that."   
"Gee, thanks." He answered dryly.   
"No problem."  
Another long silence.   
"So what now?"   
I contemplated giving him the tracker and dropping him off at the nearest police station, but I knew it could be too late before they did anything about it.   
"I'm going to get your mom back."   
"Why not call the police?"   
I gave him a glare. "Seriously? You'd think you could've done that before you got yourself into this mess? You realize they were going to kill you, right?   
"Yea, I realized that. Sorry. Stupid question."  
"It's fine. Why did they kidnap her?"  
"Money. Guess they figured they'd get it easy enough from me. They were right."  
"Yea, they were. That was stupid."  
"Well, I'm not a freakin super spy or whatever like you are. It's my mother! They said they'd kill her if I called the cops. I panicked and went along with what they said to do."  
Obviously I had struck a nerve. I wasn't a pro at interpersonal communication. I backtracked.   
"Understandable. I'm sorry."  
"It's okay."   
I unlocked my phone and activated the tracker. The signal wasn't far away.   
15 minutes later, we had reached the point where the signal was coming from. We were parked in front of a decrepit old building. It had vines growing up the side of the bricks with weeds growing in between the cracks of the concrete of the parking lot. It was a stereotypical holding spot for a hostage. I just hoped she was there.   
Hunter looked at the screen curiously.   
"Is that-?"  
I nodded. "I'm hoping that's where she is."  
"What are you going to do?"   
"Get her."  
He sighed in frustration. "Okay. But how? You're one person. You don't know how many people are in on this."  
"Fair point. You're gonna help me out."  
He was straight-faced. "What?"  
"You're gonna help me."  
Panic set in. "But I don't know anything about-" he searched for the phrase "...what you do."  
I shook my head. "You're not going to fight them, stupid. You'll call the cops if I'm not back in an hour and tell them to bring backup. Can you do that?"  
Relief flooded his face. "Okay. Yea, I can do that."  
"And keep the motor running. We might need to make a quick getaway."   
Hunter nodded. "Alright."  
I steeled myself for anything. I could handle two to three people. Guns would make it more difficult, but I could manage in close quarters.   
I walked around the back, being careful not to step on any gravel or glass. I didn't want to alert the people inside of my presence. Peering inside, I saw one of the men who had taken Hunter leaning over a figure who I assumed to be the hostage. I stood there for a minute, waiting for more people to appear. I counted four. It wasn't impossible if I could split them up.   
I knew eventually one would need to relieve themselves, so I waited patiently by the back door, behind the cover of a dumpster. I was lucky, and one came out within five minutes. I waited until he was done, and walked out from behind the dumpster. It was Mr. Ponytail.   
"You." Anger flashed in his eyes. I just smirked.   
"Hey, you. Nice shiner." Before he could call out to his friends, I rushed at him. I dodged a left hook and struck him in the neck, leaving him gasping for air as I hit him in the temple. He went limp. I made short work of the next two men, knocking them out  before the could so much as cry out.   
Hoping I would only have to deal with one more man, I slipped through the door. I silently moved through the building in search of Hunter's mother. I finally found her sitting on a mattress in a corner of a musty room. Wrinkling my nose at the smell, I walked towards her. Her eyes were searching as I checked for more men.   
"How many guys are here?" I asked.   
Before she could answer, I felt a presence behind me. Instinctively, I ducked and rolled to the right, out of reach of my attacker. Facing the new threat, I stepped backwards until I felt my back touch the wall. I drew my knife and charged. This man was obviously more experienced at hand-to-hand. I couldn't land a hit for a few moments. Luckily, he was big and therefore slower, so I had the advantage of speed. I darted out of his reach repeatedly until his movements became increasingly sluggish. Then I struck. I managed to slice into his shoulder before I was thrown into a wall. Dazed, I tried to move out of the way, but the man's fist connected before I could reach safety. He grabbed me by the hair and dragged me out of the room.  
As we walked, he regarded me in disdain. "I'm guessing the idiot's son recruited you? He'll pay double for that."   
He led me into a bathroom, intending to lock me in, but I struggled with renewed vigor.   
In a fight, you have to be careful not to break the little bones in your hand on someone's face. That's why I like bathrooms. Lots of hard surfaces.   
I left the man unconscious with a broken jaw and nose, rubbing my ribs where he had managed to land a few blows.   
I hurried to the room where the mother was kept and found her in the exact place as before.  
"Let's get out of here." I said, reaching out my hand to help her up.  
"Who-"  
"I'm a friend of your son's. Kinda."  
"He's never mentioned you."  
Looking around for more threats, I led her out of the room and in the direction of the exit.   
"We only met today. He's kind of an idiot, no offense."  
She was silent as we reached the door. Just as I was about to open it, it was thrown open and three uniformed officers burst through.   
"Freeze!"  
"Idiot." I mumbled under my breath. Hunter must have panicked and called ahead of time. Now I would have to deal with questioning.   
I raised my hands as the officers searched me. Hunter's mother was taken off for questioning.   
I was released from custody a day later. I had planned to go straight to my hotel and leave town the next morning, but my new friend was waiting for me outside the precinct.   
"What are you doing here?" I asked. Hunter was leaning against the wall as I walked through the door.   
He smiled and ran a hand through his hair. It was long and gelled to the point where I was sure he would get his hand tangled.   
"I came to thank you. I didn't get the chance the other day." He seemed to be working himself up to something. I just wanted to get out of there.   
"No problem. How's she doing?"  
"Oh, she's doing great. A little shook up but mostly okay."  
I nodded. "Good."  
We stood in awkward silence until he began stumbling over words. Finally he spit out what he had came to say.   
"Mom asked if she could thank you with a meal? We'd give you money, but I had to borrow most of it for the ransom, and police haven't given it back yet."  
I sighed and prepared to give my 'I didn't do it for the money' speech, but he stopped me.   
"I know you'd rather have the money, but it would mean a lot to her if you'd come for dinner. She's making gumbo and-trust me-you want her gumbo."  
I contemplated the offer for a moment, considering how long I'd gone without a home-cooked meal. I wanted it. I wanted to be in an actual home with people who weren't on a mission. But I couldn't. I couldn't develop a relationship with these people.   
"Look, tell you're mom I'm thankful for the offer, but I've got somewhere to be in the morning."   
I left with the feeble excuse before he could convince me otherwise.


End file.
